'He Was A Bad Man': Macaulay Culkin Opened Up About His Estrangement From His Abusive Father As He Confirmed He's Not Spoken To Him In Over 30 Years
Macaulay Culkin was just 6 years old when he first started acting, and as you probably know, he quickly became one of the most famous child stars of all time. While he initially quit the industry at 14, he slowly returned to the spotlight in adulthood — and since then, he has not held back when it comes to his difficult relationship with his father, Kit Culkin.
For reference, Kit quit his job to manage Macaulay's career when he first started to find success in the '80s. In a 2001 interview with New York magazine, Macaulay said that his dad was 'always abusive, but it didn't get really, really, really bad until later on.'
Recalling one instance in particular, he said that his dad denied him a bed to sleep on in an apparent power trip. Macaulay explained: 'I was making God-knows-how-much money, and Kit was making me sleep on the couch, just because he could. Just to let you know who's in charge and just to let you know if he doesn't want you to sleep in a bed, you're not going to sleep in a bed.'
In the same interview, Macaulay also said that Kit would physically abuse him, his mom, and his six siblings.
He doubled down on this during a 2018 appearance on the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron, where he said: 'He was a bad man. He was abusive, physically and mentally — I can show you all my scars if I wanted to.'
Over the years, Macaulay also said that his father kept booking him onto acting projects despite him begging for a break, and he was only able to step away from acting at 14 because his dad was tied up in a custody trial amid his split from Macaulay's mom, Patricia Brentrup.
And during an appearance on the Sibling Revelry podcast on Monday, Macaulay, now 44, opened up even more about how he was treated by his father throughout his childhood as he confirmed that he'd not seen or spoken to him in more than 30 years.
Explaining why he walked away from his child stardom as a teen, Macaulay shared: 'I was tired, man. I was so tired. And the thing is, I remember when I was probably about 11 or 12, I remember talking to my father. And I said: 'I'm getting tired, I think I need a break,' and he goes: 'Yeah, yeah, I'll look into it.' And the next thing I know, I was in the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. I was like: 'Oh, I'm stuck. Now, I'm stuck.''
'When I turned 14, my dad and my mom were having a thing, they kind of split up, and I said: 'Great, I quit, now he's out of the picture, I quit. I hope you guys had a good time, I hope you guys all made as much money as you possibly could because there's no more coming from me,'' he went on. 'And that was it. I started taking ownership of myself.'
Prior to his fame, Macaulay said that his parents struggled to make ends meet, and didn't even have enough money to feed the family. When asked how his parents reacted to him stepping away from being the breadwinner, the star admitted that they 'were pretty well set' by that point — and added that his mom and dad were 'too busy fighting each other' to worry too much about his decision.
'Also, I had a certain amount of autonomy,' he pointed out. 'Like: 'You're gonna do this movie,' at that point, I go: 'No, fuck you, what you gonna do?''
Macaulay also enforced this newfound autonomy when it came to the custody arrangement with his father. He recalled: 'During the whole custody thing, I wanted nothing to do with my fucking father. He was just the worst, and the judge was like: 'Well, you have to do visitations with him.' I didn't say this to the judge — I was a smartass, but I wasn't that much of a smartass — but I told my lawyer: 'I'm not doing that.' He's like: 'Well, you'll be in contempt of court,' I go: 'OK, how about I dare this judge to put me in jail for not wanting to visit [my] abusive father. Actually, I'm going to double down on that; I double dare him to arrest the most famous kid in the world…' I never played that card, but that was the one time I kind of played that card.'
When asked about his relationship with his dad now, Macaulay confirmed: 'I haven't spoken to him in what would be about 30-something years. Oh, he deserves it, too. He's a man who had seven kids, and he has four grandkids, and none of them want anything to do with him. As a man myself, I would know that I fucked up, I really must have done something wrong… I have more than an inkling that he does not feel that way. Like, we're wrong, and he's right — he's one of those kind of like narcissistic, crazy people.'
Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
'Me and him were always butting heads; he was a bad man,' Macaulay went on. 'I would take his whooping and stuff like that, but the whole time, I was sitting there going: 'Oh, I'm going to win at the end. I just sit tight, I'll take the whoopings, but I'm going to outlast him; I'm going to win.''
Macaulay added that as far as he is aware, Kit is still alive, and while his older brother once tried to make contact with him at one point, 'it turned sour pretty fast again.'
The star also shared his belief that his father resented him because he'd wanted to be an actor himself but never made it. Macaulay explained: 'Then, all of a sudden, he has this kid that didn't look anything like him — I look a lot like my mother, I don't look like him — and right off the bat, I instantly got the lead stuff in the ballet company, I instantly booked all these things, I think he resented me for that. I think he kind of hated me a little bit for that, so I think that's why he was a little bit harsh with me.'
And while Kit was abusive toward all seven of his children, Macaulay said that he 'took a big brunt of it,' sharing: 'A lot of the time, when I was on the road doing things, it was just me and him, so I was kind of locked in a room with a crazy person. I really took the brunt of it for the family, but they got their licks, too; like I said, he was just a bad guy across the board.'
Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic, Inc
'He was a son of a bitch; he was bad to his kids, he was bad to his wife, he was the worst person I've ever known in my entire life,' Macaulay concluded, before poignantly adding: 'It super sucks, but I wouldn't be the man, I wouldn't be the father I am today if it wasn't for my experience. At the end of the day, I was like: 'I'm gonna win,' and here I am.'
Macaulay shares two children with his wife, Brenda Song, 3-year-old Dakota and 2-year-old Carson. In the podcast, he confirmed that he and his kids have a good relationship with his mom, who married another man around 15 years ago and now lives on a ranch in Montana.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline
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